Art Lesson, Plains Indian Jewelry Making

Posted by Jana on
Art Lesson for The Family School



Plains Indian Jewelry Making - Beads of Beauty

Children will learn about the Plains Indian tradition of creating beads and jewelry from natural resources and how jewelry was used for beautification and trade. They will also learn that, just as the Plains Indians used common materials to create beauty in their harsh environment, they can also create beauty to bring joy during any circumstance in their lives.

Academic Concept: Native Americans, including the Plains Indians, used the resources around them to create beads for jewelry and trade.

Gospel Principle: Creating things can bring us joy amid difficult circumstances.

Vocabulary
Plains Indians—Native American people who once lived in the Great Plains region of the United States
seed beads—small round bead used for bead weaving and jewelry spacers
LESSON

Attention Activity
We are going to begin our art lesson by watching a short slideshow. This video shows creations made by different artists who all used the same unusual art material. Let’s take a look and see if you can figure out what these artists used.
 } Watch (1) Recycled Drinking Straws Video.
  • What medium or material was used in these creations? (Drinking straws.)
  • What was your favorite creation? (Accept any answer.)
  • Have you ever thought of making art with a drinking straw? (Accept any answer.)
Artists can use all kinds of materials to create art. From yard tools, to recyclables, to bicycle parts, beauty can be created out of practically anything! } If your children are interested in seeing some more recycled art you can explore hundreds of examples in the Zoltan Eberhardt’s YouTube Recycled Art playlist in the Enrichment section.  
Lesson
Today we are going to learn about Native American artists who made beautiful things out of the natural resources around them. They used different materials to create art depending on the area where they lived. For example, the Pacific Northwest Indians who lived near the ocean and forest were known for their beautiful work with wood and shells. } Show (2) Totem Poles. 
The Southwest Indians (including the Navajo) painted with sand and weaved with wool from the sheep they raised in the desert. } Show (3) Sandpainting Navajo Rugs. The Plains Indians, who we will study today, lived in the flatlands in the middle of North America where large animals like bison roamed. 
  • What do you think the Plains Indians used to make art? (Animal hides, bones, .)
The Plains Indians livelihood was dependent on the animals in their area. They mainly survived by hunting animals, though some of these Indians also grew crops. (wikipedia.org: Plains Indians) They were careful not to waste any part of these important animals. They used the meat for food and the skins for clothing and shelter. They used the bones for tools and beautiful decorations. 
  • Do you think bones can be made to look beautiful? (Accept any answer.)
Let’s look at how a woman from the Arapaho tribe wore bones in an artful way. } Show (4) Freckle Face, Frank A. Rinehart or Introduce Art Flashcard 5.16.
  • Do you see the white around her neck and hanging down from her shoulders? (Accept any answer.)
The white jewelry you see is called a hairpipe choker necklace and breastplate. It was made by weaving animal bones together. Look at the dots on her shirt. 
  • Can you guess what the dots are made of? (Accept any answer.)
The dots are actually hundreds of elk teeth! 
One unique animal resource the Plains Indians used to beautify their world was porcupine quills. Porcupine quills are long and sharp, but have a hole, or shaft, running through the inside--perfect for running a string though. They cut the quills to different sizes and used them as beads. Let’s look closely at this photograph of a porcupine quill. } Show (5) Porcupine Quill.
  • Would you like to see how porcupine quills were used to make something beautiful? (Accept any answer.)
} Show (6) Cradle Board.
  • Do you know what this object is? (A cradle board, or baby carrier.)
  • Did you see any porcupine quills? (Accept any answer.)
All of the colorful designs on the cradle board were made from porcupine quills. Isn’t that amazing!

When the European explorers and settlers began coming to the land where the Plains Indians lived they introduced the Native Americans to glass beads. The Plains Indians traded for these small glass beads, or “seed” beads. They enjoyed the new colors available to them, and by combining their already excellent beadwork skills with this new kind of bead they made incredible art. Let’s see how the Plains Indians beautified with seed beads. 


Notice how many beads were used!  They made designs by alternating the colors of the beads. When we look at the sheath we can see how they substituted the white beads for black beads to make an animal design.
  • Can you see what the beads are sewn on to? (Animal hide, leather.)
Leather was the “canvas” and beads were the medium (the material) for their art. Attaching all those beads was not an easy thing to to do, but the Plains Indians used a special sewing method to easily string seed beads together. It was called the peyote stitch. You can learn to string beads with the peyote stitch later during our art project.
We’ve seen how beads were used to beautify clothing and to make jewelry, but beads had another use as well.
  • Can you guess what other use they had for beads? (Accept any answer.)
Beads were used as money! Beads became an important form of currency, or money, for the Native Americans. Each tribe had access to different materials depending on where they lived, so they were able to trade amongst the different tribes with beads. Let’s read how the bead money system worked.
The value of a bead was based on the scarcity of the product [what the bead was made of]. Some popular materials included turquoise, copper, silver, coral, shells, amber and wood. They also used products made from animals such as teeth, horns, carved bones and ivory. Each tribe determined the worth of each piece based on the material and size. Some were worth more to other tribes simply because they didn't have access to the same products. For example, beads made from shells were worth more to tribes located in the Plains area because they didn't have access to those shells.(tribaldirectory.com: Native American Beadwork )
So shells were special and rare for the land-locked Plains Indians.
  • What types of beads do you think were more valuable to tribes living near the ocean? (Animal bones not found in the area or shells and metals not native to that land.)
  • If we were to make beads from a natural resource found in our area what would we use? (Answers will vary.)
It is interesting how, “Native Americans, including the Plains Indians, used the resources around them to create beads for jewelry and trade.” Write this academic concept on the board.

GOSPEL CONNECTION
The unsettled lands of the Great Plains were not an easy place to live. The Plains Indians made the most of this harsh environment by using their resources wisely and creating beauty with whatever they could. The Mormon pioneers found themselves in a similar environment as they traveled West. Conditions were harsh and the journey hard. President John Taylor shared a story about some of those early saints traveling West. Let’s read it together.
In late June of 1847, a large group of Saints led by Elder John Taylor and Elder Parley P. Pratt left Winter Quarters to travel west. By September 1847 they had reached the east side of the Rocky Mountains, between 300 and 400 miles away from the Salt Lake Valley. During the first week of September, several inches of snow had fallen, and many of the Saints began to feel disheartened. At this same time, President Brigham Young and several members of the Twelve were returning from the Salt Lake Valley to Winter Quarters and met Elder Taylor’s group. Amid the snow and the growing concern of those who were traveling to the Salt Lake Valley, Elder Taylor encouraged everyone to be of good cheer and met in council with President Young, the accompanying members of the Twelve, and the other leading brethren in the group.
While the brethren were meeting, the clouds dispersed and the sun soon melted the snow. Without telling the rest of the group, several of the sisters went to a secluded grassy area fringed with bushes. There they began setting up makeshift tables decorated with white linen and fine tableware. A historical account records that “‘the fatted calf’ was killed; game and fish were prepared in abundance; fruits, jellies and relishes reserved for special occasions were brought out until truly it was a royal feast.” (lds.org: Teachings of the Prophets: John Taylor Chapter 11)
  • How were the saints feeling in the beginning of this story? (Tired, disheartened.)
  • What did the sisters do to follow Elder Taylor’s counsel to “be of good cheer”. (They created a feast.)
  • Do you think that making a nice meal with the resources they had was a form of creation? (Accept any answer.)
These sisters didn’t have much, but with what they had they created joy for a disheartened, worn out group by creating a beautiful feast. They demonstrated that creating something beautiful can bring joy during hard times. 
Elder Richard G. Scott said that children are sometimes best at finding joy in any circumstance by being creative. He shared the following story in general conference.
Children teach us how to find joy even under the most challenging circumstances. Children haven’t yet learned to be depressed by concentrating on the things they don’t have. They find joy in what is available to them. I remember a small boy playing along a riverbank. He had tied a piece of fishing line to the ends of two discarded soft-drink cans. He threw one can over a limb, then filled it with water. He would pull on the other can, then let it go. The weight of the first can would draw the second one up as it fell. He laughed and danced with glee. (“Finding Joy in Life,” Gen. Conf., Apr. 1996)
  • What materials did the boy have around to create with? (Fishing line, littered soda cans.)
He didn’t have much, but the young boy created something by using the things around him, and it helped him to be happy.  
Relate
  • Did you know that the ability and the desire to create is a gift we all have? (Accept any answer.)
  • Where did we receive this gift? (Heavenly Father.)
  • What did our Heavenly Father create? (Everything!)
John Taylor said, “Is there anything gloomy in the works that God has made? Turn where we will, we see harmony, loveliness, cheerfulness, and beauty.” (Taylor, Chapter 11)
Our Heavenly Father created only wonderful things (including you!) Our divine ability and desire to create is something we have inherited from our Heavenly Father. Let’s listen to what President Uchtdorf said about our divine ability to create. This message was given in a women’s conference, so he says “daughters” but this message applies to men and boys too.
} Watch (9) “Create” Mormon Message Video.
  • What do you think about this message? Did this message cause you to want to be creative? (Accept any answer.)
At the very end of the message President Uchtdorf tells us we have something special to help us as we create. 
  • What do we have? (The guidance of the Holy Spirit.)
President Uchtdorf says the ability to create is inherent, or born in us. It is so exciting that our Heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe and everything in it, has given us the opportunity and ability to create too.
  • How can we show that we are grateful for that gift? (Develop our talents. Take time away from the television and electronic devices  to create. Practice being creative in our everyday lives. Thank Heavenly Father for our opportunities and ability to create.) 
Because our Father has given us this divine gift, we will always have opportunities for happiness, no matter what trying times we face, because we will always have the ability to create. It is wonderful to realize that “Creating can bring us joy amid difficult circumstances.” Write this gospel principle on the board.

ART PROJECT
Art Supplies: 
Littles/Middles: String, yarn, or boondoggle, and pony beads in a variety of colors
Bigs: White or scrap paper, pencil, glue, string, ruler, scissors, skewer, clear nail polish (optional)
Littles Activity: Necklace Beading
  1. Use a string or yarn and pony beads to create a necklace or bracelet.
  2. Cut a length of string to about 6 inches for bracelet and/or 12 inches for a necklace.
  3. Lace the first bead on the string and then tie the first bead on the end of the string. 
  4. Lace each new bead onto the string until the desired length is reached. Be creative in the colors and patterns you use.
  5. Tie the string to the first bead to create a loop when you are finished. 
  6. When your piece is complete wear or display it and place a photo of your jewelry behind the My Art Projects divider.
Assignment: Look around your house for unique objects that you could create with. (For example: used cereal boxes or egg cartons.) Draw a plan for what you could create with those objects. When you are finished place your drawing behind the Indigenous Peoples of America Divider.

Middles Activity: Peyote Stitch Flower } This is easier than it looks from the diagram. For younger children, you may want to learn this stitch first and then demonstrate for your child.
  1. View the detailed (10) How To Peyote Stitch instructions on how to do an even count flat peyote stitch. Try creating the flower pattern described using yarn or boondoggle string and pony beads.
  2. If you enjoyed creating the flower pattern choose another (11) Pony Bead Pattern to try.
  3. When your piece is complete wear or display it and place a photo of your beading behind the My Art Projects divider.
Assignment: Look around your house for objects that you can create with. Make a list of objects you can use.  (For example: used cereal boxes or egg cartons.) On the back of your list, draw a plan for what you can create with those objects. When you are finished place your drawing behind the Indigenous Peoples of America Divider.

Bigs Activity: Create your own paper beads.
  2. Using scrap paper (or white paper with your own design) cut triangular strips as described in the video. Remember, the wider the strip, the wider the bead. The longer the strip the thicker the bead. 
  3. Starting at the thick end roll the paper tightly around itself on a wooden skewer.
  4. Glue the paper down as you go. 
  5. When the paper is tightly wound, gently remove from skewer and let it dry. For a stronger bead paint it with clear nail polish.
  6. Create as many different colors and sizes of beads as you wish.
  7. When your beads have finished drying string them together to make a bracelet or necklace.
  8. When your piece is complete wear or display it and place a photo of your beading behind the My Art Projects divider.
Assignment: Reflect on a time when life felt particularly difficult. Write in your journal two ways you could create beauty in that situation to make it more bearable.

MORE FUN WITH JEWELRY MAKING
Family Follow-up: Select a time when children's recordings can be shared with family members, such as mealtime, family home evening, or before family prayer.
Further Research: Visit Zoltan Eberhardt’s YouTube Recycled Art Playlist for more recycled art ideas.
Article: Read about the Developmental Benefits of beading.
Computer Activities: Use the Interactive Beadwork Designer to design an intricate beadwork design.
Family Night Idea: Read the article together from President Uchtdorf about finding joy through “creating”.
Art Project: Using trash or other cast-off materials in your home create a work of art to display.
Art Project: Explore making Native American beadwork designs with perler (or melting) beads. Example here.
Art Project: Visit the More Ideas With Pony Beads Website for more ideas on a variety of things you can create with pony beads.
Lesson Plan Resources
(5) Porcupine Quill SS image 372176680

Record Resources

Enrichment Resources
Happiness, Your Heritage (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Gen. Conf., Oct. 2008)